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Thread: 1985 735i E23 build/save/restore

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Astoria, NY
    Posts
    116
    My Cars
    1985 735i

    1985 735i E23 build/save/restore

    What up forum!? I've been lurking around the e23 section for a bit reading up on these boats and admiring some of the builds on here. Old school bmws aren't a new problem for my bank account. I used to be big in e30s before I picked up this e23. Below is a small list of the toys I've had so far. I figured it might be time to start my build thread so I can help keep track of my whoas and share with the community. These parts are not that easy to come by, let me tell ya! Still doesn't stop me.

    In February 2019, I was cruising upstate to visit my sister in Poughkeepsie and for whatever reason google maps took me through some local roads of Fishkills, NY. Why driving through I spotted this maroon/burgandy e23 sitting helplessly under a big ole tree. So of course I stopped in the middle of the road, reversed back to stare at it. My wife was totally against me knocking on the door of this small cabin and asking about it, because thats how city folk die in the woods. But I did and eventually got a phone number to the owner, which then sent me the CL listing for the car with some more photos and "some" details. The owner was not knowledgeable about the car, just the bare basics. Heck, the dude was rocking a flip phone still. The story goes that they were driving locally in the neighborhood, the car start to start backfiring and shooting black smoke out the tail pipe. Lucky for me, but unlucky at the time, the same thing happened to me. So I thought, cool, CPS is shot, should be a nice simple resurrection. But if all failed, the interior was practically might and the wood trim looks amazing. Figured I wound part it out if it's worst than expected.


    Craig List Ad photos - wasn't much to go by. I guess that's why no one came to buy it.
    CL exterior.jpg
    CL interior.jpg

    Attached are some photos of when I finally went to go get it. The night before it snowed about 5 inches where the car was and I didn't realize until I went to go get it, that all the of the calipers were seized. So that was a real pain in the ass to get. By the time we finally got it up on the trailer, I was really wondering if my wife was right, "this looks like a huge turd."


    - 1986 325e 5 speed which eventual got a s52 swap.
    - 1989 325i auto
    - 2003 325xi Wagon auto
    - 2006 328xi 6spd
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by poopin04; 11-11-2019 at 05:13 PM. Reason: edited text

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Astoria, NY
    Posts
    116
    My Cars
    1985 735i
    Here are some more close up photos of the condition it was in when I got it home. I guess I could see why my family thought this was a horrible purchase. But I had a vision! And I borrowed a power washer to get closer to it.

    backyard 1.jpgbackyard 2.jpgbackyard 3.jpgbackyard 4.jpgbackyard 5.jpg
    Last edited by poopin04; 11-11-2019 at 05:12 PM.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Astoria, NY
    Posts
    116
    My Cars
    1985 735i
    Here are some photos of the car after I had a 2 hour power washing session. Holy shit was it dirty. I need to wash the house and backyard when I was done. The paint sure does look great when it's wet. And there were acorns everywhere!! It's now November and I'm still finding acorns 9 months later.

    Attachment 661960Attachment 661961Attachment 661962Attachment 661963

    PS No clue why the photos are flipped. If I can fix I totally will bc it drives me nuts.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by poopin04; 11-12-2019 at 01:26 PM.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Location
    Tangent Oregon
    Posts
    450
    My Cars
    79' 320i 84' 733i
    Looks like a good start to a fun project! What are your plans?

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Astoria, NY
    Posts
    116
    My Cars
    1985 735i
    Quote Originally Posted by StevenHenriksen View Post
    Looks like a good start to a fun project! What are your plans?
    For now, it's get it up and running...consistently, lol. Some days it doesn't play nicely. Pretty much been going through all the regular maintenance before I get into the fancy stuff. Can't have a nice looking car that can't drive.

    I've been working on it for the past 9 months now and figured I should put together a build thread, so I can remember what was done and help anyone else in a jam. There sure is a shortage of diy and tutorials for these boats. Coming from the e30 world where there's a writeup or youtube video for everything and parts galore!

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Astoria, NY
    Posts
    116
    My Cars
    1985 735i
    Minor update: I was running into a weird issue where anytime my tank was 3/4 full my car would start bogging down when I accelerate; so fuel starvation somehow. This wasn't an issue when I first got the car and started happening after I changed all my fuel hoses; you know trying not to set it on fire. I originally thought that I might have switched something around, so I went through the whole system using the below manual I found online. Great diagrams and DIY stuff in there. Went out and found a working in-tank pump for another e23 since I changed my in-line fuel pump when I got the car at home. That did not solve the issue, so now I have two of them, which is nice.

    In the end, I decided to follow McGyver, from R3vlimited, dual fuel pump to single fuel pump conversion, link below. I picked up a TRE Performance fuel pump, item# TRE-340. There are a couple of them listed, which was a bit confusing, because they all look teh same based on description. The description of the one I purchased is "BMW 255 LPH Fuel Pump Many Years and Models." Once all swapped in using the directions in the DIY, the e23 was up and running without any issues. I've taken the tank from 3/4 to a 1/4 now and it's been working like it should. The other great thing, is that now I don't hear the in-line pump humming anymore. I solved the issue, but still haven't figure out what the culprit was.

    online e23 Manual - http://repair.bmw-e23.com/pages/en/index.html
    DIY - Double to Single Fuel Pump Conversion - https://www.r3vlimited.com/board/for...ump-conversion

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